7 May 2012
The afternoon of Day 5 is planned for our travel to Busan from Gyeongju by bus. I think the best way to travel between Gyeongju and Busan is with the Express Bus or Intercity Bus( Intercity Bus is cheaper but slower).We could also go by KTX from Singyeongju station, but we would need to take a bus from Gyeongju to the station which meant more transfers.
We took a taxi to the Gyeongju Express (Gosok) Bus terminal (not the Intercity Bus terminal) and bought our tickets on the spot. Ticket costs 3900 KRW per person and the bus leaves every 40 minutes. The journey to Busan took about 2 hours on the express bus.
The Express Bus terminal in Busan is the Busan Central Bus Terminal (not Seobu Bus Terminal) located at Nopodong. The terminal is the starting point of the Busan Subway Line 1. It was hence easy to board the subway train with our luggage and get a seat on board.
When planning for our hotel in Busan, I chose the Busan Ibis Ambassador Hotel since it is located along the same subway line (Subway Line 1) and will be a direct train to our hotel. It would be a hassle to change subway trains with our luggage.
We bought the T-money card for our subway rides in Busan at the Nopodong station. The cards can also be used in Seoul.
After check-in at the hotel, we did some shopping at Shinsagae and Lotte Departmental stores before finding our way to Gwangali Beach via subway. Cosmetics (both Korean and international brands) were relatively cheaper in Korea than back home.
I think Gwangali Beach is best visited at night as the Gwangan Bridge is beautifully lit and it makes a good backdrop for a nice romantic stroll on the sandy beach. To get to the beach from the subway station, there is some distance to walk but was quite easy in the cool spring night.
Gwangan or Diamond Bridge as seen from the Gwangali beach, Busan.
At the end of the beach, there were many seafood/sashimi restaurants, housed in a tall building called the Millak Heo (Raw Fish) Centre. Since Busan is famous for their fresh seafood and home of the largest fresh fish market in Korea, we decided to have a raw fish (sashimi) dinner in a seafood restaurant.
We picked a restaurant at random and were shown a table where we sat on the floor, traditional Korean style. We were brought to view and select our fish from several tanks. It was difficult communicating to the restaurant staff but we managed to pick a fish and agree on the price.
These were the appetisers.
The fish was prepared into thinly sliced sashimi and eaten with soy sauce and wasabi (Japanese style) or dipped into the Gochuchang (Korean red pepper paste). Soju (Korean rice wine) with the raw fish is a must.
After we finished our sashimi, the head and bones were taken away to be made into a pot of boiling spicy fish soup or mae·untang. After eating all the raw stuff, the hot spicy soup was a good way to end the meal.
Can t-money card be recharge in Busan?
ReplyDeleteI believe you can recharge the T-money cards at the convenient stores that display the T-money card logo. These stores also sell the cards. We bought our cards from a convenient store located within the Nopodong station in Busan.
DeleteHi, do you know whether it's possible to buy the t-money cards in other convenience stores around Busan? And how do you buy them?
ReplyDeleteThanks!